Secrets of the Medjai: Slices of Life, Part 3 - Freedom
by J-R Virtual Seasons
Summary: Yanit helps Alex take care of some unfinished business. This slice of life takes place shortly after the second season episode 'The Cold'.


Yanit was passing the open door of one of the dormitories when she caught sight of Alex sitting on his bunk, threading a silver locket through his fingers and looking pensive. Smiling to herself, Yanit made her way over to Alex's bunk and sat down next to him.

'Hi, Alex,' she said.

'Hi, Yanit,' Alex replied.

'Nice locket,' Yanit remarked.

'Yeah,' said Alex.

'Something on your mind?' Yanit pressed.

'Um... yeah, there is,' said Alex, coming out of his reverie. 'You remember those ice trolls I told you about?'

'Sure,' said Yanit. 'The ones who had that magic trident Imhotep wanted to get hold of, right?'

'Yeah, exactly,' said Alex. 'This is the locket that allows the wearer to control them; I still had it with me when we left Greenland and I just found it nestling in a pair of my clean underpants.'

'And now it's got the wheels in your head turning at high speed, huh?' said Yanit.

'Yeah, it sure has,' said Alex. 'The last part of that particular adventure happened in such a rush – I barely had time to think about what I should actually command the trolls to do after I'd gotten my hands on this thing. But now I wish I'd left the locket with them, then they'd be free and no one could ever use their power for evil again.'

'Oh, Alex,' said Yanit, 'you really are something special; you know that?'

'Am I?' said Alex, genuinely surprised by Yanit's response to his words.

'Of course you are!' said Yanit. 'After getting hold of an artefact like that locket, very few people would think about the future welfare of the enslaved creatures that come with it – they'd just try to think how they could use the power for their own ends.'

'So did I, at first,' said Alex. 'I tried to get the trolls to give me the trident – I seem to remember saying "bring me that fancy fork", or something like that.'

'You were just trying to keep it away from Imhotep,' said Yanit. 'You didn't want to use it for yourself.'

'Yeah, that's true,' said Alex. 'But still, I didn't think of releasing the trolls from their thraldom, and now it's too late.'

'Who says?' said Yanit. 'You still have the locket, so you could still give it to them.'

'_If_ I could get my parents to fly me back to Greenland sometime, and _if_ I could find the ice trolls again when I got there.'

'There's more than one way to skin a cat, Alex.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' said Alex, laughing slightly.

'It's supposed to mean,' said Yanit, smiling at him, 'leave it with me.'

* * *

Alex was about to enter the washroom when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

'Hey!' said Alex, whirling round to find Yanit grinning at him. 'Oh, it's you. I was just about to take a shower.'

'That's okay; I won't try to stop you,' Yanit laughed. 'I just came to tell you to come to my room at eleven o'clock tonight, alone.'

'Oh,' said Alex. 'You did, huh?'

'Yep,' said Yanit. 'Make sure no one knows what you're doing, okay?'

'Um... yeah, okay,' said Alex. 'But why?'

'There's something I want us to do together,' said Yanit.

Alex swallowed a gulp and said, 'There is?'

'Yes, there is,' said Yanit. 'You'll feel infinitely satisfied afterwards, Alex, if all goes according to plan.'

'Oh... good,' said Alex. 'I'll definitely be there, Yanit.'

'Excellent,' said Yanit, beaming at him. 'And bring the locket with you, okay?'

'Okay,' said Alex.

'I'll see you then, then,' said Yanit. 'Enjoy your shower.'

* * *

Alex smoothed down his hair and gave both his armpits a quick sniff, then he knocked on the door of Yanit's bedroom.

'Come in,' Yanit's voice called from beyond.

Alex took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped into the room.

'Close the door,' said Yanit, jumping up from her bed. 'And I think you'd better lock it as well.'

'I didn't think these doors _had_ locks,' said Alex.

'This is the only one that does,' said Yanit. 'Ardeth installed that bolt for me after I told him my secret – pull it across, just to make sure we're not disturbed.'

Alex did so, then he turned to look into Yanit's eyes. She met his gaze, and smiled at him.

'So, er... what's all this about?' said Alex.

'What do you know about naming magic, Alex?' Yanit asked.

'It can be very powerful,' said Alex. 'Knowing the name of some entities can give you the power to control or command them, or at least to force them to appear or disappear.'

'Right!' said Yanit, grinning. 'I was in the library all afternoon, Alex. I managed to find a ritual to summon an entity by naming magic; we can bring the Chief of the Fodden – that's the real name of the ice trolls, as I'm sure you already know – here to us and bind him to a mystic circle until we want to release him.'

'But Yanit, I don't _know_ his name!'

'_I_ do! I found him in the Medjai Encyclopaedia; he's called Hrothgar.'

'And we're going to summon him right now, are we?'

'Well, I thought we could, yeah. You want to give him the locket and free his people, don't you?'

'Yeah, I do,' said Alex. 'Yanit, you... you did all that, for me?'

'Of course,' said Yanit, reaching out to squeeze his arm. 'And for the Fodden, of course. You _did_ bring the locket, didn't you?'

'Yeah; it's in my pants,' said Alex. 'Um, I mean it's in my _pocket_!'

'Maybe you'd better keep it there for now,' said Yanit. 'We'll see if Hrothgar is disposed to be friendly, then we'll broach the subject of the locket with him when we feel the time is right.'

'Good idea,' said Alex.

'So, let's set up the ritual,' said Yanit. 'I've laid out all the artefacts on my desk; you pass them to me when I ask for them, okay?'

'Okay, Yanit,' said Alex.

* * *

Alex and Yanit were standing in the middle of a chalked circle with various objects placed on its circumference. A few feet away was a second chalked circle with a pentagram inside it.

'Okay,' said Yanit, who was holding a lighted candle, 'when I place the light on the edge of the circle, the summoning channel should open. I'll then say who we want to summon, and he'll appear in the centre of the pentagram.'

'If everything goes according to plan,' Alex added.

'Yes, if everything goes according to plan,' Yanit agreed. 'Now remember, Alex, he won't be able to move outside the confines of his circle so long as neither of us breaks _our_ circle, and if we want to banish him at any time, we just need to extinguish the candle.'

'And he won't be able to use his ice powers on us, if he happens to feel like it?'

'His powers won't be able to reach outside the circle, so he'll only end up using them on himself if he tries anything.'

'Okay,' said Alex, 'let's do this.'

Yanit nodded, then she bent to place the candle on the circumference. The chalk outlines of both circles immediately began to crackle with blue energy; Yanit gasped, and grabbed Alex's hand.

'Do we need to hold hands for the ritual to work?' Alex asked.

'It's not strictly necessary, no,' said Yanit. 'Would you prefer me to let go?'

'Not at all,' said Alex, tightening his own grip. 'Staying like this seems the only sensible option to me.'

Yanit cast him a sidelong smile, then she took a deep breath.

'Hrothgar, King of the Fodden,' she declared, 'I summon and bind you, by the power of Vivienne's Circle!'

The entire room seemed to be filled by a howling blizzard for a few seconds, then the chief ice troll was standing in the circle opposite them, looking extremely confused.

'What be this?' he demanded. 'Where be I? Who be you?'

Yanit held up her free hand in a vague gesture of salute and said, 'Hail to the Troll King, mighty lord and master. You've been summoned to the Medjai Academy, by us – my name's Yanit and this is Alex.'

'The Medjai Academy...' Hrothgar mused. 'Yes, of course – I recognise you, boy. You're the young Medjai who was in possession of our amulet of control when I last saw it.'

'That's right,' said Alex, 'and I still have it.'

'Ah, then you've summoned me here to do your bidding,' said Hrothgar. 'Perhaps you'd like me and my people to put ourselves to extreme inconvenience once again to find the Trident of Voth for you? That's all you and your kind were interested in when we first met, as I recall.'

'Look, Imhotep definitely isn't my kind, okay?' said Alex. 'And nor is Colin Weasler, come to think of it. We've summoned you here because I want to give _you_ the locket so your people will be free forever.'

'Mighty thoughtful of you, boy Medjai,' said Hrothgar, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. 'I suppose you expect a high price in return for such a gesture?'

'No!' said Alex. 'I'm just gonna give you the locket, then you can go home and live in peace forever.'

'So what do _you_ get out of the arrangement?' Hrothgar demanded.

'Just... well, just...' said Alex.

'Just the secure and certain knowledge that he's done the right thing,' said Yanit. 'That's the kind of guy Alex is, and that's all there is to it.'

'Oh, I see,' said Hrothgar. 'Smug, then, is he?'

'Hey, I'm not smug!' Alex objected.

'Of course he's not smug!' Yanit snapped. 'He's just a really wonderful person, that's all.'

Hrothgar shot Yanit a wry smile and said, 'You really believe that, don't you? It fair warms a heart even so old and frozen as my own.'

'Look, we didn't call you here to exchange verbal banter for no adequately discernible reason!' said Yanit. 'Do you want the locket or not?'

Hrothgar considered his response for a few seconds, then he said, 'Let me see it.'

Alex gave Yanit a quizzical look. She nodded. Alex reached into his pocket with his free hand and withdrew the locket. Hrothgar looked at it, then he slowly inclined his head.

'And you're going to give this to me for free, no strings attached?' asked the troll.

'Yeah, I am,' said Alex.

'I still think it's suspiciously good of you, boy,' said Hrothgar, 'but I've never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Hand it over, then.'

He held out a large, horny hand. Alex took a step forward, but Yanit dragged him back.

'Alex, don't break our circle!' she exclaimed.

'Oh my God,' Alex muttered, narrowing his eyes at the troll. 'What's going on here, Hrothgar? Are you planning some kind of trick, after we've gone to such a lot of effort to bring you here just so that we can set your people free?'

'No trickery, boy,' said Hrothgar. 'I want only what you've promised me.'

'You know what I think?' said Yanit. 'I think if we give you this locket and set your people free, you'll lead them in some kind of mass uprising and try to take over the world or something!'

'You have quite an imagination, girl,' said Hrothgar. 'Why would I want to do a thing like that?'

'You wouldn't,' Alex said quietly. 'I mean, I don't believe you would. No one wants mindless fighting for the sake of it. When _I_ fight, Hrothgar, it has to be for a specific purpose – a worthwhile purpose – otherwise I just wouldn't have the stomach for it. And I think you're the same as me – you and your people have no reason to fight anyone.'

'What about revenge?' said Hrothgar. 'Against those who have oppressed us, and forced us to use our power for evil? Have you considered _that _possibility, boy?'

'Revenge is never sweet,' said Alex. 'I'm trusting that you and your people want nothing more than to be left alone to live in peace, and I believe that's exactly what you'll do.'

With that, Alex threw the locket to Hrothgar. The troll caught it deftly, and stared at it with a mixture of gratification and surprise in his eyes.

'Thank you, boy Medjai,' said Hrothgar. 'This girl is right to have such faith in you, it seems... just as _you_ are right to have faith in me and my people; I give you my word on that.'

Alex met Hrothgar's eye, and nodded. Yanit knelt down and blew out the candle; Hrothgar disappeared, taking the locket with him.

'Thank you, Yanit,' said Alex. 'I'm really glad we did this.'

'So am I, Alex,' said Yanit, 'because it's shown me once again that my suspicions about you are undoubtedly correct.'

'Suspicions?'

'When I came to join the Order of the Medjai, I never thought I'd meet someone like you.'

'Someone white, you mean,' said Alex, grinning.

'Not specifically,' said Yanit, smiling wryly back at him. 'I mean someone pure of heart; someone kind and honest and loyal and true to an almost superhuman degree; someone who makes me believe in the future of the Order – in the good we can do for the world. No one else really makes me feel that way, Alex; not even Ardeth. But you do.'

'You think too much of me, Yanit; I'm not all that special.'

'Yes, you are.'

'Well, you know,' said Alex, '_I_ never thought I'd meet someone like _you_ when I came here.'

'A girl, you mean,' said Yanit.

'Not specifically,' said Alex, laughing. 'I mean someone... well, someone who I like more than I've liked any friend I've ever had before.'

Yanit's face melted into an enormous smile; she wrapped her arms around Alex's waist and rested her head on his chest.

'Is this what true friendship feels like, Alex?' she asked.

'Er... I think it must be, yeah,' said Alex, returning the hug with enthusiasm.

'It's wonderful,' Yanit remarked.

'I know,' said Alex. 'I mean, I know _now_ – I don't think I really did before I met you. That is, I certainly haven't felt anything quite like _this _before.'

'I _know_ I never experienced true friendship before I met _you_,' said Yanit. 'I thank with all my heart the blessed turn of fate that brought the two of us together, Alex; I count any hardship I have suffered – or have yet to suffer – in the service of the Medjai Order as utterly insignificant, if it means that you and I were destined to meet, and to become such close friends.'

'We're closer than close, Yanit,' said Alex, tightening his grip on her body. 'We're closer than you ever could imagine us.'

'I don't know about that, Alex,' said Yanit, giggling slightly. 'Like Hrothgar said, I have quite an imagination.'

Alex laughed, then he said, 'I should go back to the dorm now.'

Yanit pulled back slightly, met his eyes, smiled and said, 'Okay.'

They moved in for another quick hug, then Alex unbolted the door and left the room. Yanit stared after him for a few moments with a distinctly wistful expression on her face, then she started to clear away the extensive mess on her floor.


End file.
